Richard Cannonwalker
"I won't sleep until I'm dead... or until tonight. That will depend on which comes first." '' ~Captain Richard Ulysses Cannonwalker '''Richard Ulysses Cannonwalker' is the first pirate of Nults McKagan. He is a notorious pirate hero sailing the Caribbean seas. He lives in a small shack on Padres Del Fuego with Gunner, where he gathers limited wealth and fame from the locals by telling his stories. He captains The Black Warrior. He has an irrational fear of hot tar and feathers, most likely caused by a tar-and-feathering inflicted upon him in England in his early years of piracy along the Barbary Coast. Although he had been told by many, including Bartholomew Roberts, that he looked like he was more fit to be a toilet scrubber than a pirate, his morale and dedication to become a notorious pirate in the Caribbean was not hindered. Biography Childhood *He grew up in England *He played with dolls and spent most of the money he had on them *He was taught to play the harpsichord by his father *He learned to read and write well after reading the works by William Shakespeare *He had selective mutism around pretty women Early Adventures The Barbary Coast When Richard was 18, he moved out of his parents' house in England. This left him without any money or means of getting food. In order to keep from starving, he had to get a job as the latrine scrubber for a pirate ship in Northern Africa. During his time in North Africa, he developed the ability to play the banjo. One day, while the ship was plundering French merchant vessels, a Royal Navy Ship of the Line approached their ship. The crew had sunk various British merchant vessels and the Royal Navy was to stop it. The crew tried to fight back, but it was no use; they were immediately defeated. Everybody was captured as prisoner, including Richard. Prisoner in England After the ship he worked on was captured, Richard was taken back to England as a prisoner, although he technically did nothing wrong. Richard's parents visited him one time while he was jailed there, but only to tell him that they were ashamed of his actions. Before they left, Richard's father gave him a necklace made of eyeballs, saying that this was the last time they were ever to meet. After that day, Richard never saw his parents again. Richard had a relatively bad time in prison, being bullied by his former crew mates for being a bad toilet scrubber aboard the ship. Every couple of days, however, one crew member would be taken away, never to be seen again. This went on for about two weeks before it happened to Richard. About a week after all of Richard's crewmates had disappeared, the day finally came. A couple Royal Navy officers took Richard out of his cell. Without due process of law or a fair trial, Richard's hands were tied to a fence rail, forcing him in a sitting position on the rail. He was covered in hot tar and feathers and then marched around the town. Immobilized with fear and humiliation, Richard had no choice but to watch the large crowd of people laugh and cheer at him. After Richard's tar-and-feathering was over, Richard was taken behind the jail by the Royal Navy officers. They lousily washed him off with cold water and put his shirt back on him. The officers then took him aboard a small vessel about to leave port. They put him below deck in a jail cell; all of the others had no prisoners and were therefore filled with cargo. The ship quickly left port. Arrival in the Caribbean The Journey to the Caribbean After the ship left port, it started going westbound. Richard could have the rumblings of heresy against the King from the crew above him. After going about 10 knots, the ship stopped. The latch to below-deck opened up and a man entered the area. He opened Richard's cell and allowed him to roam free. This man was part of the revolution, a small group dedicated to bringing about change in Britain's government, including instating a republic and overthrowing the King. The man made sure that Richard was given an adequate amount of food, as he did not believe in treating even the worst of scum badly. Richard was also allowed to roam freely around the ship under the condition that he was to help the ship's toilet scrubber, as the crew had been told that Richard was the toilet scrubber of his previous ship. Richard was accepting of this condition and co-existed happily with the crew. Prisoner on Rambleshack Eventually, the ship dropped anchor at an unknown island. The captain of the ship told Richard that he had to go to the jail on the island. Richard was hesitant at first, so the crew had to do their duty and force him into one of the cells. They said their goodbyes to their friendly captive and left shortly afterwards. The struggle with the crew caused Richard to become unconscious. After he awoke, he was greeted by the presence of a pirate that looked familiar. This pirate was Jack Sparrow, legendary pirate in the Caribbean. He saw that Richard's clothes were almost completely torn and offered him some spare clothing that was ripped from another prisoner before he was hung. Jack quickly broke the two out of jail, saying that he arranged for a ship on the island's dock to pick Richard up. Richard was suspicious as to how Jack would get himself home, but didn't think twice of it. Richard left the jail and went to the dock, where there was, sure enough, a vessel waiting for him. Meeting Jolly Roger for the First Time Richard got aboard the vessel, being greeted by the captain as he hopped aboard. The captain of the ship was named Bo Beck, who told him that the vessel's name was the Grim Reaper. As the ship was about to take off, the Harkaway, the vessel of the infamous undead captain Jolly Roger. Jolly Roger boarded the Grim Reaper, obviously infuriated. He expressed that he expected Bo Beck to bring him Jack Sparrow, but Sparrow fled the island by other means. Jolly Roger then killed Bo Beck in front of Richard's eyes, which didn't seem to affect or traumatize him since he had seen plenty of death during his days near the Barbary Coast. Jolly Roger allowed Richard to live, but made him walk the plank off of the Grim Reaper and into the shark-infested ocean. Becoming a Pirate Arriving at Tortuga After swimming for a few hours in the dusk, Richard came across a dinghy floating about in the middle of the ocean. Richard climbed in the dinghy and immediately fell asleep, tired from the events of the day. Nearing the dawn of the next day, Richard awoke on the shores of Tortuga without the dinghy he was using. He had nothing except his goofy name, the wet clothes on his back, and a strong ambition to become a mighty pirate. Early Tortugan Piracy Richard Cannonwalker was living on the streets of Tortuga for a time. He relied on donations from generous civilians and occasional theft for the first few months of his new life of piracy in the new world. He ate the scraps of food and nearly-empty grog bottles in the trash cans of the King's Arm and Faithful Bride taverns on the islands. Things were not looking great. Re-encountering Jack Sparrow After struggling to get by on Tortuga, something occured to Richard Cannonwalker. While digging through the trash outside of the Faithful Bride one day, he heard a voice from behind; "What are you looking for, mate?" This voice belonged to Jack Sparrow, the man who broke him out of the Rambleshack jail. Jack Sparrow vaguely remembered Richard, but nonetheless decided to put his own interests aside for a moment to help him. Jack offered Richard his assistance, which Richard graciously took. Jack offered him a small ship to get his sea adventures started off on, a rusty cutlass, and a flintlock pistol. From these tools, Richard began his true pirate adventure. Early Caribbean Adventures Disrupting EITC Trade After being given the tools to be a proper pirate, Richard began sinking various vessels. Anything from a Bulwark to a Juggernaut to a Death Omen faced the wrath of Richard's small vessel and makeshift crew. EITC vessels, however, seemed to be a specific target for Richard and his makeshift crew. Many EITC vessels were sunk; many treasures were recovered. Though Richard still disrupts their trade, he doesn't do it as much as he used to. Flatts & Flatts Importers Smuggler For a temporary period of time, Richard smuggled goods across the Caribbean for Flatts & Flatts Importers in hopes of making the East India Trading Company's forces weaker in the Caribbean. Although Richard did this for a period of time, the East India Trading Company's forces in the Caribbean never weakened down. Though Richard has stopped doing this for the most part, he'll still occasionally carry out a smuggling job for Ben Flatts. The First Vanquishment of Jolly Roger Arising Problems Richard had been making a good living as a pirate in the Caribbean. His conquests against the Royal Navy and the East India Trading Company made him a somewhat notorious pirate in the Caribbean. However, a newer foe rose to challenge Richard; Jolly Roger. Richard remembered meeting Roger before when he killed Bo Beck aboard the Grim Reaper. However, Richard never bothered with Roger's skeleton army up to this point. As time went on, Richard's ship was progressively being attacked more often than not by skeleton ships. Richard was usually able to thwart these ships rather easily, they costed him money in loot and repairs. Jolly Roger's Hostility Eventually, Richard was upset by the problems skeleton ships were costing him. During a skeleton invasion of Padres Del Fuego, Richard and his crew captured Jolly Roger and took him into Fort Dundee. The Navy guards, not caring that pirates were taking Jolly Roger in to their fort, immediately restricted him in the fort with voodoo-resistant rope. While the Navy guards went to get a few superior officers, Richard began interrogating Roger as to why his ships were attacking Richard at sea. With every question asked, Roger continually refused to answer. Jolly Roger eventually got frustrated by Richard's questions, saying that Richard wouldn't live to see his wrath end. Roger then broke free and continued his invasion of the island, which was barely thwarted. The Hunt After Jolly Roger's retreat after failing to capture Padres Del Fuego, Richard knew that he had stop Jolly Roger before he did anything else to thwart him or any other pirates. The dawn after the invasion, Richard gathered his crew and sailed out to the seas in an attempt to stop Jolly Roger's forces of evil. Though the hunt took about three months, Richard and his crew finally were able to find Jolly Roger's ship, the Harkaway. While the crew was investigating the seas around Outcast Isle, the skies turned an odd green color. This was an indication that Jolly Roger had arrived in a nearby location, most likely to invade the nearby island of Padres Del Fuego. The crew abandoned their search of the Outcast Isle seas and hurried over to Padres Del Fuego. The Battle As Richard and his crew approached Padres Del Fuego, they saw the Harkaway docked at the main dock of the island, with skeletons pouring out onto the island and attacking citizens. As Jolly Roger was distracted with overseeing the attack on the island, the Black Warrior, Richard's ship, pulled up beside the Harkaway and boarded. As Jolly Roger took notice, Richard and his crew were defeating his skeleton crew rather easily. Jolly Roger got back on to the deck of his ship, infuriated that his plans were being meddled with so easily. At this point, Richard and his crew had already defeated all of the skeleton's on-board. The amount of skeletons being risen back to life on the land was decreasing since Jolly Roger was preoccupied, so the citizens were able to begin fighting back. There was a long fight between Jolly Roger and Richard's crew aboard the deck of the Harkaway. Eventually, all of the skeleton forces on-land were ordered to retreat in order to assist Roger in fighting Richard's crew. Most of them easily fell, however. Soon after, the battle was taken to sea. The Black Warrior and the Harkaway began firing cannon shots at each other. After a long, close battle at sea between the two ships, the Harkaway finally sank. However, this did not mark the defeat of Jolly Roger. Roger rose back from the sea, reappearing on the deck of the Black Warrior. Most of Richard's crew hid under the deck, which many were ridiculed and some thrown overboard for their cowardess. After a lengthy battle aboard the deck of the Black Warrior between Richard and Jolly Roger, Richard's crewmates came up from behind and assisted him. They swiftly beheaded Jolly Roger and tossed his body into the ocean, being sure to keep his still-living head in a voodoo-proof jar. The Aftermath & Ressurection After the defeat of Jolly Roger at the hands of Richard Cannonwalker, Richard gained a significant amount of notoriety in the Caribbean. He gained the respect of both pirates and the Navy alike. Although Richard feverently expressed his repulsion of the Navy and the EITC, he received the bounty for Jolly Roger's death from the British government; 1,000 pounds of gold doubloons. With this, Richard upgraded his ship and his crew severely. Every so often, Richard would go below-deck on his ship and check on Jolly Roger's severed head to make sure that it didn't do anything. Usually, Jolly Roger's head wasn't able to do anything, but Richard always wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened to his head. He checked twice a day, which eventually became once a day, and eventually became even less frequent. One day, when Richard went to check on Roger's head, it had disappeared. One of Richard's new crew members, who was a skeleton masquerading as a mortal pirate, had stolen the head after Richard's trips to the head had become less frequent. He then set the head free, knowing Roger would once again live. This crew member was beheaded, and Jolly Roger was once again free. The Curse of Humberto Diaz Finding Humberto After becoming a somewhat notorious pirate in the Caribbean, Richard heard about something that could potentially make him a legendary pirate; stealing the cursed swords of Humberto Diaz. Richard traveled to the mysterious island of Raven's Cove, an island destroyed by Jolly Roger's conquests. Once he arrived there, he did various missions for the few survivors on the island in order to retrieve information needed to finding Humberto Diaz. He was told Humberto went under the alias of "El Patron" and that he and his crew lurked on the land-locked ship of his in the heart of the island. He eventually received an elevator shaft key and went to slay Humberto. Slaying Humberto After going up the elevator shaft, Richard had to fight his way through many enemies to get to Humberto Diaz and his crew. After fighting off exploding bats, going through a long cave system, and fighting off various ghosts, Richard finally reached the land-locked ship of Humberto Diaz. He walked up onto the ship, only to find nobody aboard and a treasure chest. As he went for the treasure chest, a ghost appeared before his eyes; this ghost was accompanied by various other ghosts. These were Humberto and his crew. Richard pulled out his sword and begin slashing at them. The fight between him and the crew lasted a long time, requiring the use of voodoo on Richard's part in some cases to strengthen himself. In the end, after nearly being defeated, Richard slayed Humberto Diaz and his crew. The Aftermath After the fight, Richard found something at his feet; The Lost Sword of El Patron. Richard picked up the sword, hypnotized by its golden blade and voodoo glow. Richard also took a Nautilus Blade out of Humberto's treasure chest. These blades have earned Richard limited fame throughout the Caribbean; some even pay Richard to hear the story of how he retrieved them. However, these swords came with a price; the chance of being cursed. Richard constantly checks his hand to see if the curse has taken affect on him yet. Civilizing Outcast Isle The Decision Some time after ridding the Caribbean of Humberto Diaz's evil minions, Richard had been lacking adventure. He obtained limited fame telling the stories of his adventures to locals on Tortuga, Padres Del Fuego, and Cuba. However, reliving these stories in memory wasn't enough for Richard. Richard gathered his crew and some friends, who went under the name The Eco Warriors, and decided it was time for them to collaborate in an adventure. For the purposes of adventure, Richard & the Eco Warriors decided that they could, perhaps, rid Outcast Isle of Jolly Roger's creatures. Afterwards, they planned to make the island a pirate haven and a base of operations for the Eco Warriors. The groups sailed from Tortuga to Outcast Isle on their ships, ready to rid the island of creatures. The Discovery of Benjamin Cannonwalker After the crews arrived on the wild island, they were met with surprising peace. They set up a few tents, knowing they'd probably be there for at least a few days. Just so they knew exactly what they were up against, the crews decided to scout the island. The crew of the Black Warrior would take the south and west; the Eco Warriors would take the north and east. They split up to investigate. While the crew of the Black Warrior was investigating their part of the island, they were attacked by a group of demon stumps. Just then, a loud drum banging could be heard. The stumps fled, terrified of the noise. This noise was made by a hermit, Benjamin Cannonwalker, who had been living on the island for the past 40 years. He was Richard's grandfather, though the two never met. Benjamin recognized Richard's face, though, and instantly knew Richard was his grandson. Benjamin told the group everything they needed to know about Outcast Isle, including about the creatures inhabiting the island. The group then knew it was possible to eradicate the creatures. Meeting the Cannibals While Benjamin and Richard were going back to the center of the island, they encountered a group of cannibals. Benjamin introduced Richard and the cannibals to each other, establishing a friendly relationship. Benjamin stated that he gave the cannibals a decent understanding of the English language and the ability to read and write during his time on the island. The cannibals offered Richard a cookbook for humans they wrote. Richard, although he was not a cannibal, accepted the book as a token of friendship. The group began making their way back to the center of the island to meet with the Eco Warriors. Exterminating the Creatures Benjamin, the cannibals, Richard, and his crew returned to the center of the island to meet the Eco Warriors. They explained the entire situation with finding Benjamin and how to defeat the creatures. The groups immediately began eliminating the creatures, making the island barely inhabitable. After making the island barely possible to inhabit (though barely), there was a decision between everybody that Richard was to be governor of the island and that Keira would lead the island's military. However, shortly after, Keira and the Eco Warriors left the island to "tend to business elsewhere." Moving On After a while of attempting to exterminate the pests of the island, Richard deemed that the island was uninhabitable. After a while of thinking, he decided that he would abandon his hopes of civilizing Outcast Isle. Richard then moved on to other things. Pirate Lord of the 8th Brethren Court Invitiation by Ned Edgewalker In early April of 1746, Richard was invited by his friend, Ned Edgewalker, to form the 8th Brethren Court. Ned, seeing as how he noticed the 7th Court had fallen apart, decided to make an 8th. He had heard the tales and exploits of Captain Richard Cannonwalker and decided he would make a nice addition to the court. He was one of the first invited to the court, along with David McMartin and Jim Logan. Chairman of Cannonwalker Trading Company Creation On April 14th, 1746, a short time into Richard's return to Padres Del Fuego, he began to take a strong interest in the economy and the natural resources of the island. He figured that, in order to decrease the unemployment rate of the island and return jobs to the people, he could create a monopoly over the resources. However, this was no easy task. Richard then established the Cannonwalker Trading Company, a company built for the sole purpose of liberating Padres Del Fuego's natural resources from EITC monopolization and using them to create jobs for the people of the island. The turnout of the company's establishment was a whopping success; the company almost instantly gained control of the island's resources, creating jobs for the people. They even established a store on the island (and eventually stores on the EITC island of Kingshead, Raven's Cove, and Cuba). Equipment and Skills Richard is known to carry many items on his person at any given time, including various swords, guns, compass, and even sometimes books and/or grenades. Richard is very attached to all of the items he carries, and will easily shoot or stab somebody without hesitation who tries to touch them. The item that Richard is most fontly attached to is most likely the Lost Sword of El Patron. He uses it in most of his battles and is very attached to it. He once attacked his own crew mate for asking to touch the sword. He retrieved the sword from, surprisingly enough, one of Davy Jones's men on Isla Tormenta. It is rumored by his crew mates that the spirit of the former owner, Humberto Diaz (AKA El Patron), cursed Richard and changed his attitude. They also rumor that it may eventually damage him or give him a black spot, though both of these rumors are not verified. Another important item, made by Richard himself, is the Cannonwalker Cutlass. It was made by Richard after combining the parts of various famous weapons, receiving the nickname "Frankensword." It has the ability to control wind, which Richard uses to propel his ship against wind and where there is no wind. It is also said to have the ability to time travel, which Richard claimed sent him back in time 5 minutes accidentally once. However, regardless of its unknown ability and potential, Richard has yet to use it for battle. Probably Richard's least valuable item is the Necklace of Vision. It was given to him by his father during his jail time in England, which would be the last encounter between the two. It is a necklace made of thin jute string and laced with eyeballs. Although it holds no valuable, Richard sees it as his most valuable item. In addition to having, perhaps, more equipment than he could possibly need, Richard is also very skillful with said equipment. He can get himself out of tight situations, helping him escape the wrath of the EITC and Royal Navy countless times. Memorable Quotes *"Rubber tree!" *"I blame Constantine." *"I've killed Jolly Roger once and I have no problem doing it again." *"I may just be a lowly toilet scrubber from England, but I have a crew to back me up. That must count for something!" Trivia *Although Richard is considered to be Nults's first pirate, Nults had another Richard Cannonwalker from November 1740 (2007) to September 1742 (2009) *Richard was temporarily mentored in the art of sailing by Edward Edgemenace, which explains his unorthodox style of sailing *It was commonly believed that Richard's birthday was August 2nd, but Richard noted this as being a misconception, stating that his actual birthday is November 21st *Richard's middle name was adopted from a popular video game character, Guybrush Ulysses Threepwood. However, Ulysses S. Grant is also cited as an inspiraton for the name. *One of Richard's notable quotes, "Rubber tree!", is adapted from a quote said by Guybrush Threepwood in the video game, The Secret of Monkey Island. If the player goes to the far-right oedge of the highest mountaintop on the island, Guybrush will fall off of the cliff. A message box then appears, saying "Oh, no! You've really screwed up this time! Guess you'll have to start over! Hope you saved the game!" with options to restore, restart, and quit. However, Guybrush suddenly flies back up to the top of the cliff and exclaims "Rubber tree!" *One of Richard's notable quotes, "I blame Constantine.", refers to Constantine the Great.